Kewal Singh Choudhary

Kewal Singh
Foreign Secretary of India
In office 4 December 1972 - 31 March 1976
Preceded by	Triloki Nath Kaul
Succeeded by	Jagat Singh Mehta

Kewal Singh Choudhary (1915–1991) was an Indian diplomat, Foreign Secretary and India's ambassador to the USSR, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and USA. He was a 1955 recipient of the Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri.[1]

Early life and education

Kewal Singh was born into a Sikh family in the Lyallpur District of West Punjab on June 1, 1915.[2] He was educated at the Forman Christian College, Lahore, the Law College, Lahore and at the Balliol College of Oxford University. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1939 and served in Punjab in administrative positions until Independence after which he opted for the Indian Foreign Service.[3] Between 1944 and 1946 he served as Colonization Officer, Nilibar. Then he served as district magistrate at Shahpur and Simla for the years 1946-47 and 1947-48 respectively.[2]

Diplomatic career

Kewal Singh served as First secretary of Indian Embassy in Turkey between 1948 and 1949. Then served in Indian military mission, Berlin during 1949–51.[2] Later, he was appointed Indian Consul-General to French Indian enclaves[note 1] in October 1953 succeeding R. K. Tandon[4][note 2] and stayed in that position until the French ceded them to India in 1954. He also played prominent role in their integration into the Indian union. In the same year he became the Chief Commissioner of the State of Pondicherry and served until November 1956.[6] He later served at Indian missions in Stockholm, London and in Germany.[7][8]

Kewal Singh was India's Ambassador to Portugal in 1962 when India's annexation of Goa led to diplomatic relations between Lisbon and New Delhi being severed, while as High Commissioner to Pakistan in 1965, he similarly had to leave that country after the breaking off of diplomatic relations following the Indo-Pak War of 1965.[9]

He served as India's ambassador to the USSR from 1966 to 1968, and as Ambassador to the United States from 1976 to 1977. He succeeded T. N. Kaul as foreign secretary, serving from November 1972 to October 1976.[10][11] India took over Sikkim, its protectorate, following prolonged internal disturbances there while Singh was foreign secretary.[12] During his tenure, India signed an agreement for demarcating the maritime boundary with Sri Lanka and led a series of talks with the then Pakistani Foreign Secretary Agha Shahi on normalising communications and travel between the two countries.[13][14]

Death and legacy

Following his retirement as the ambassador to USA, Kewal Singh taught at the UCLA and at Kentucky University's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce where he was distinguished world statesman in residence until his death in 1991.He is survived by two children Mohinder and Gita.[15] He authored a book, Partition and Aftermath: Memoirs of an Ambassador.[16]

Offices held

Preceded by R.K. Tandon	Consul-General of India to the French Establishments in India October 1953 – 31 October 1954	Succeeded by Consulate Abolished (Chief commissioner of French Establishments in India)
Preceded by Georges Escargueil (Gouverneur Général de l'Inde française)	Chief commissioner of French Establishments in India[note 3] 1 November 1954[note 4] – 16 November 1956	Succeeded by Moti Kripalani
Preceded by N.A.	Ambassador of India to the Denmark[note 5] c.1959 – 1962	Succeeded by N.A.
Preceded by N.A.	Ambassador of India to the Finland[note 6] c.1959 – 1962	Succeeded by N.A.
Preceded by N.A.	Ambassador of India to the Sweden c.1959 – 1962	Succeeded by N.A.
Preceded by T. N. Kaul	Deputy High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom 1962 – 1965	Succeeded by P. N. Haksar
Preceded by G. Parthasarathi	High Commissioner of India to the Pakistan 1965 – 1966	Succeeded by S. Sen
Preceded by T. N. Kaul	Ambassador of India to the Russia 1966 – 1968	Succeeded by Durga Prasad Dhar
Preceded by N.A.	Ambassador of India to the Mongolia 1968 – 1969	Succeeded by N.A.
Preceded by Khub Chand	Ambassador of India to the Germany 1970 – 1972	Succeeded by Y. K. Puri
Preceded by T. N. Kaul	Foreign Secretary of India 4 December 1972 – 31 March 1976	Succeeded by J. S. Mehta
Preceded by T. N. Kaul	Ambassador of India to the United States 1976 – 1977	Succeeded by Nanabhoy Palkhivala

See also

• List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry
• List of consuls general of India in the French India
• List of ambassadors of India to Russia
• List of ambassadors of India to the United States
• List of Padma Shri award recipients (1954–1959)

References

1. "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
2. Asia Who's Who. Hong Kong: Pan-Asia Newspapers Alliance. 1960. p. 224.
3. Singh, Kewal (1991). Partition and Aftermath : Memoirs of an Ambassador. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. p. 6.
4. Banerjea, D (2002). Criminal Justice India Series: Pondicherry. Allied Publishers,National University of Juridical Sciences. p. 21. ISBN 9788177648713.
5. Ajit K Neogy (2021). Decolonization of French India: Liberation movement and Indo-French relations 1947-1954. Pondicherry: Institut français de Pondichéry. p. 163. ISBN 9791036566608.
6. Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature. Lok Sabha Secretariat. 2004. p. 977. ISBN 9788120004009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
7. Singh, Iqbal (1998). Between Two Fires: Towards an Understanding of Jawaharlal Nehru's Foreign Policy. New Delhi: Orient Longman. p. 272. ISBN 9788125015857.
8. Das, B S (2010). Memoirs of an Indian Diplomat. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. p. 45. ISBN 9780070680883.
9. Budhwar, P K (2007). A Diplomat Reveals. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley. p. 71. ISBN 9788177588880.
10. "FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1969–1976, VOLUME E–8, DOCUMENTS ON SOUTH ASIA, 1973–1976". Retrieved 4 December 2012.
11. Kux, Dennis (1992). India & the U. S.: Estranged Democracies, 1941-1991. Washington DC: NDU Press. p. 471. ISBN 9780788102790.
12. Sen, Sankar (2006). Reflections And Reminiscences Of Police Officers. New Delhi: Concept Publishers. p. 94. ISBN 9788180692369.
13. Lyon, Peter (2008). Conflict Between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara. p. 195. ISBN 9781576077122.
14. Bhasin, A S (2001). India-Sri Lanka Relations and Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict Documents 1947 - 2000 Volume 1. New Delhi: India Research Press. p. 190. ISBN 9788187943105.
15. "Kewal Singh Memorial Fellowship". Retrieved 4 December 2012.
16. Partition and Aftermath : Memoirs of an Ambassador. Vikas Pub. House. 1991. ISBN 9780706958119. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
17. "Indian Affairs Record (Vol. I and II)". Diwan Chand Indian Information Center. 1955.
18. Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature. Lok Sabha Secretariat. 2004. ISBN 9788120004009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

Notes

1. In French India, the Indian consulate was located in the 7 rue de Capucins (now renamed as Rue Romain Rolland), Pondicherry.
2. R.K. Tandon himself succeeded S. K. Banerjee as the Consul General of India in French India on June 10, 1950.[5] The inaugural Consul-General for India in the French Establishments in India at Pondicherry was Mirza Rashid Ali Baig who held the post between 1947 and 1949.
3. In January 1955, The Indian union government by an order renamed the four French settlements in India as State of Pondicherry.[17]: 20 
4. Appointed immediately by the Government of India after the Kizhoor referendum that was held on 21 October.[18]: 964 
5. Resident in Stockholm
6. Resident in Stockholm